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Re: Robbo's Bees - Photo Blog

Yea, I have some contacts in the packaging industry - that same ink that is used for printing expiry dates on packets of chips, cereal boxes etc I reckon would be the go.

Thats interesting with the green paint / leaves of tree's etc. I hadnt thought about the efficiency of that paint colour. I just use it purely for camoflage for theft / not alerting the neighbours etc. (I should paint the white insulated lids I have on them too - haha - as they stand out a bit). me personally, Im not a fan of multi coloured boxes - I like everything to be the same etc. The lids I am using are the migratory ones with the air vents in them. The bees seem to block that air flow off with propolis for most of the year, and there is always plenty of bees in the underside of the lid, so the insulation must be doing the trick.

Re: Robbo's Bees - Photo Blog

"The bees seem to block that air flow off with propolis for most of the year"

Some of my bees also do this ( and I find it a nuisance as they also tend to seal off the AJ beetle traps) while others leave the place as clean as can be.
I'm trying to select splits more from the clean ones.

Re: Robbo's Bees - Photo Blog

Hi Rob,

my beehouse ( for storage and extraction) is as good as finished. I will take some photos and put them on my website soon.
Good honey flow on at the moment and looks like I will have a pretty good store for winter. Lots of markets coming up and the local IGA is buying a lot and paying a fair price too.
I have no need to reduce humidity/moisture if I take the honey fairly fully capped.If I have a bucket full of honey flowing to slow I place it in the car in the sun. Works well.
Still dealing with the SHB - the Department has sent a letter to all Bee Keepers with some advice. Must be bad if they are getting seriously involved.
Autumn is looking pretty good and I have big hopes for a winter flow and early spring.
max

Re: Robbo's Bees - Photo Blog

We started selling at the local markets last month (learnt a lot the first day), and had our second market day today. Here's a few pics of our stall

Its amazing how many local people, and also visitors to our town want to talk about bees!!! I love talking about the subject anytime anyhow, but today my lungs and throat are sore I spoke so much. Brings a tear to the eye how concerned people are with whats going on with general bee health.

Re: Robbo's Bees - Photo Blog

"Well, after 2 bad wet seasons, this year we have a surplus of honey."

Hi Rob,

yes, an excellent season here too. The Brush Box have been flowering ( maybe the first time in 8 years?) and bees are still bringing it in. We took off 260 kg of honey off just the wife and i with our little set-up. Working well but still room to improve. I have been bottling and labelling and cleaning up....and in the next couple of days we will be starting again. Not complaining!

I will have a bit of a stockpile for when the rain hits. Some I will store on the concrete floor and it should go crystalised. Sells well. I may have to have a look for another outlet. We sell at two markets - smaller then your market but we sell about 60 to 80 kg of honey on a good Saturday morning. We charge a bit more then you do - $ 6.00 per 500g and $ 10.00 for a kg and we give a dolar back when they return the glass jar. We can get more then 20 jars returned on some days - a guarantee to make another sale. We also sell Beeswax Candles. A good product at Christmas but at other times a little slow.
Our main product is vegetable seedlings which we grow ( and some buy in in bulk).
The combination of seedlings and Honey is a good way to get return sales. Most are regulars which come to each market and buy.
I put out a little Gardening Newsletter ( for free) and this allows me to keep in touch with my clients.

Re: Robbo's Bees - Photo Blog

Yea, that would be cool
We have a few months left to go on house renovations, but after that, that would be great.
Will have to get you working though - haha - just getting to that stage where I am doing something bee related every weekend of the year

We are getting into the Market thing Max. Its definitely better when you are the only bee keeper there. We have met so many great people wanting to have a bee chat. Im 1/2 way thru getting on to facebook with 'ballina honey' as that will be my 'flyer' I think. People are coming around to supporting local products so thats bee awesome.

Re: Robbo's Bees - Photo Blog

If there was a thread for 'best thing you bought for beekeeping in 2011', this would be mine.

One of these scissor carts. Im amazed how much I use it!!

This one pumps up enough to get a super to the bench, then can go on top of that super which is great. It gets a bit hard to pump up with 5 or 6 supers on it, but will apparantly lift 350kg's (umm about 800 pouinds I think??)